Ok, not football at all, but it matters, eventually.

[Billyni]

That was post 600.

Make it end before we get to 666

[ozleeds]

That was post 600.

Make it end before we get to 666

No we need it open to express our world problems save posting crap on the other threads.
Besides if it was going to be closed they would have done it Route66

[ozleeds]

https://www.facebook.com/reel/2391230141239519

[Monaco_Totty]

Last month the likely next German chancellor Friedrich Merz surprised the countrys partners by saying it might be the moment for discussion with Paris & London on the subject of how a French or Franco-British European nuclear deterrent might operate is still far from clear.


As President of France in the 1960s, Charles de Gaulle launched the policy of French strategic independence.
He also said that Americans were more our friends than Russians were & that the US too also had interests & one day their interests would clash with ours.

Of course one option might be to position French nuclear-armed planes in other countries, such as Germany or Poland. The decision to press the trigger would still rest entirely with the French President, but their presence would send a strong signal.

Alternatively, French bombers could patrol European borders, in the same way they regularly do French borders today. Or airfields could be developed in other countries to which French bombers could quickly deploy in an emergency.

But the credibility of US nuclear dissuasion is not what it was. That has opened the debate, and led the Germans to look more favourably on the idea of coming under a French & British umbrella now.

Numbers are an issue. Are 300 French warheads enough against Russia's thousands? Maybe not, but in an alliance with the UK 300 become 550. Also remember that the American nuclear deterrent is still in 'theory in place' as there are currently US nuclear bombs in Germany, Italy & the Netherlands, for now.

Today, reading that Friedrich Merz, who is expected to become Germanys next Chancellor, has announced a political deal to raise hundreds of billions of euros in extra spending on defence & infrastructure - stating
'In view of the threats to our freedom and peace on our continent, the rule for our defence now has to be 'whatever it takes', he said.

Just glad, I have got 3 foot stone walls & a stone floor with access to a carpeted cellar now. 👍

[WTF11]

Couple of points regarding the likelihood of nuclear weapons being used in the European theatre;

First, the French nuclear weaponry is strategic, not tactical/battlefield oriented. Delivery would be by submarine, cruise missile or aircraft but yield and targets would be large and on Russian soil respectively. No French Premier would authorise such a deployment as it would guarantee annihilation.

The UK has NO independent nuclear arsenal (strategic or otherwise), as any authority to arm Trident missiles (as opposed to merely launching them) would depend on American Presidential approval. Guess how likely that is? As long as we were able to work within NATO, with a supportive US administration, all is well. We're no longer in that happy place.

Forget nuclear warfare in Europe and instigated by western powers of any sort, not going to happen.

With all the European nations working in concert (bit of an ask!), without the Yanks and bearing in mind the pasting that Russian forces have suffered over the last three years, it is highly likely that Putin would consider an all out offensive aimed at a more extensive occupation of both Ukraine and the Baltic states to be too much of a risk and seeks a negotiated peace (without Trump the extortionist being involved). All depends on getting 20+ European nations (and others, perhaps the Canadians), on the same page!

[WTF11]

Sorry, just to be clear, Trident is also strategic, not tactical/battlefield, even if we got the go from Ronald

And the only "western" forces with tactical nukes are the Yanks.

[WTF11]

And this "thing" (I can't bring myself to describe it any other way), is the other side of the same C U N T coin as its sidekick

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/video/news/trump-says-he-wont-defend-nato-countries-if-they-dont-pay/vi-AA1Apnd3?ocid=hpmsn&t=44

After the worldwide efforts following 9-11 and the deaths of service personnel from various countries whilst fighting in Afghanistan, Syria and elsewhere to insinuate that the European countries would renege on their NATO commitment is beyond the pale. The USA has a disgusting, vile, juvenile idiot as head of state, well done.

[hopelesslyoptimistic]

Hmmmn - so the world can be a bad place - who knew.

Not a lot we can do about it. The positive signs from all this is that EU is finally trying to agree things and speak with one voice - which is not before time.

The more extreme things that happen the less likely Mr Farage (said like garage) is to gaining more influence.

You should speak to more of the younger generation though as they seem to have their heads screwed on quite well.

It?s the old timers over the age of 70 that are the problem 👀🤣

[whitestomper45]

Who determined that the US debt clock was "full of errors"?

The same people that grift the system?

The US debt clock has been around for 20 years. Never been a question of it's veracity until someone decided to try to address the debt and size of government. All of a sudden it's inaccurate.

However, you are correct. it's totally inaccurate since it does not include unfunded liabilities which some have estimated to be 2-3 times higher than the actual debt shown on the USdebtclock. States like CA, IL, NY, NJ and MA have 10's of billions in underfunded pensions as well as local municipal debt that is not included in the US national debt. The pension liability will be greater than the entire tax revenue brought in by some of these states within the next 10 years. Like social security they are technically insolvent by standard pension accounting measures but since they are government they aren't required to correct the imbalance.


You've seen the chaos it's created to even attempt to cut the size of growth in the US government. They aren't "cutting government" they are merely shrinking the size of growth from the previous budget.

I think it's pretty obvious that this debt will never be paid in our lifetime and likely never.

That debtclock site you take great store in, is not an official site and states the savings it states are objective not actual

[ozleeds]

Last month the likely next German chancellor Friedrich Merz surprised the countrys partners by saying it might be the moment for discussion with Paris & London on the subject of how a French or Franco-British European nuclear deterrent might operate is still far from clear.


As President of France in the 1960s, Charles de Gaulle launched the policy of French strategic independence.
He also said that Americans were more our friends than Russians were & that the US too also had interests & one day their interests would clash with ours.

Of course one option might be to position French nuclear-armed planes in other countries, such as Germany or Poland. The decision to press the trigger would still rest entirely with the French President, but their presence would send a strong signal.

Alternatively, French bombers could patrol European borders, in the same way they regularly do French borders today. Or airfields could be developed in other countries to which French bombers could quickly deploy in an emergency.

But the credibility of US nuclear dissuasion is not what it was. That has opened the debate, and led the Germans to look more favourably on the idea of coming under a French & British umbrella now.

Numbers are an issue. Are 300 French warheads enough against Russia's thousands? Maybe not, but in an alliance with the UK 300 become 550. Also remember that the American nuclear deterrent is still in 'theory in place' as there are currently US nuclear bombs in Germany, Italy & the Netherlands, for now.

Today, reading that Friedrich Merz, who is expected to become Germanys next Chancellor, has announced a political deal to raise hundreds of billions of euros in extra spending on defence & infrastructure - stating
'In view of the threats to our freedom and peace on our continent, the rule for our defence now has to be 'whatever it takes', he said.

Just glad, I have got 3 foot stone walls & a stone floor with access to a carpeted cellar now. ��

What about Iran? World claims they have nuclear weapons just like the so called BS Iraq that killed thousands of people.

[WTF11]

What about Iran? World claims they have nuclear weapons just like the so called BS Iraq that killed thousands of people.

No doubt they have a programme to enrich uranium and feed a weapons development effort but......they don't have a strategic delivery platform so even if they develop viable weapons they can't threaten outside the middle East (Israel) and I suspect Israel will address that risk when it's necessary.

[Rev72]

Concise - how are you Rev?

Alright pal thanks , see you and WTF are still having a fine bromance 😆

Hope all?s good with you hopey .

[WTF11]

Quote from that thing that infests the White House;

"At the same time, when asked whether Russia is exploiting the US pause in providing aid and intelligence to Ukraine during its recent attacks, Trump said that, in his opinion, Russian President Vladimir Putin "is doing what anyone else would do."

"I think he wants to get it stopped and settled, and I think he's hitting them (the Ukrainians - ed.) harder than he's been hitting them, and I think anybody in that position probably would be doing that right now," Trump remarked."

It is a disgusting, vile disgrace to the flag of the United States and it's people (no matter who they voted for), and will go down in history as the worst ever holder of the Presidency.

[Oranje White]

@ WTF.... just wondering if TDS and numerous covid experimental poison injections are in any way connected? A build up of mRNA in a frontal lobe or something like that makes one susceptible to brainwashing? Your hatred for a popular man, democratically elected, doing his best for the USA, compared to the previous demented corrupt criminal, is extraordinary. Do you also hate the man who has uncovered mega $billions of corruption with USAID as well? TDS is turning people into hateful zombies.

[WTF11]

@ WTF.... just wondering if TDS and numerous covid experimental poison injections are in any way connected? A build up of mRNA in a frontal lobe or something like that makes one susceptible to brainwashing? Your hatred for a popular man, democratically elected, doing his best for the USA, compared to the previous demented corrupt criminal, is extraordinary. Do you also hate the man who has uncovered mega $billions of corruption with USAID as well? TDS is turning people into hateful zombies.

I have been happy and content to have Covid vaccinations and the boosters that have followed, as well as the recommended influenza vaccinations. I've experienced no I'll effects, for a man of my age (entering his 70h year), I'm fit, active, volunteering for a number of environmental organisations and learning a number of new skills associated with wildlife conservation, so no, my hatred (and it is now hatred), for that disgusting, vile, creature infesting the White House is entirely down to its actions;

Extortion, cowardice, bullying, victimisation, economic illiteracy, childish incompetence, etc etc.

"Doing his best for the USA"? If that's the best he can do, god help the USA (and the rest of us) when he is shown to be incapable of doing any better (don't hold your breath).

And you are referring to his attack dig, Musk? Anagram of Musk = Skum. Very fitting. An unelected billionaire heading a "department" responsible for firing hundreds of Federal employees including hundreds of veterans of conflicts covering decades of US military involvement around the world, Yeah, I hate that South African Nazi. YOU?